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A review by icelore
Nightwings by Robert Silverberg
3.0
Robert Silverberg has been an author that I've enjoyed for a long while. While Nightwings lives up to his legacy in theory, the fact that this "novel" is comprised of 3 short stories is evident. It lacks the continuity and polished completion that I value unfortunately.
The world building and character evolution is definitely up to par with what I'd expect from Mr. Silverberg, and had these novellas been expanded upon into a trilogy, this could have been a great series. Instead, readers were given a glimpse into a very interesting future and introduced to characters we grow to want to learn about...and then we are left alone in the dark.
I'm definitely still happy to have read this book, and I appreciate the traditional sci-fi elements and tone found therein. Worth a read, as this was written by one of the greats, but this book on it's own definitely does not reflect the author's usual exemplary offerings.
As a side note, while reading the forward, I found this:
But other honors were waiting for the novella known as “Nightwings.” In the spring of 1969, it was one of five stories to make the final Nebula Award ballot in the Best Novella category, though it finished second to Anne McCaffrey’s “Dragonrider.”
Anne McCaffrey is and most likely always will be my favorite author, not just for her Dragonrider series, but for her collected works as a whole. While still a powerhouse in his own right, that Robert Silverberg's writing could even compare to Mrs. McCaffrey's is reason enough to read it. :)
Favorite excerpt:
“We’ll catch the disease!”
“The Will can reach us anywhere to infect us with this, Olmayne. It strikes at random. The danger is no greater for us inside this building than it is in Perris.”
“Why, then, are so many in this one village smitten?”
“This village has earned the displeasure of the Will.”
“How neatly you serve up the mysticism, Tomis,” she said bitterly. “I misjudged you. I thought you were a sensible man. This fatalism of yours is ugly.”
The world building and character evolution is definitely up to par with what I'd expect from Mr. Silverberg, and had these novellas been expanded upon into a trilogy, this could have been a great series. Instead, readers were given a glimpse into a very interesting future and introduced to characters we grow to want to learn about...and then we are left alone in the dark.
I'm definitely still happy to have read this book, and I appreciate the traditional sci-fi elements and tone found therein. Worth a read, as this was written by one of the greats, but this book on it's own definitely does not reflect the author's usual exemplary offerings.
As a side note, while reading the forward, I found this:
But other honors were waiting for the novella known as “Nightwings.” In the spring of 1969, it was one of five stories to make the final Nebula Award ballot in the Best Novella category, though it finished second to Anne McCaffrey’s “Dragonrider.”
Anne McCaffrey is and most likely always will be my favorite author, not just for her Dragonrider series, but for her collected works as a whole. While still a powerhouse in his own right, that Robert Silverberg's writing could even compare to Mrs. McCaffrey's is reason enough to read it. :)
Favorite excerpt:
“We’ll catch the disease!”
“The Will can reach us anywhere to infect us with this, Olmayne. It strikes at random. The danger is no greater for us inside this building than it is in Perris.”
“Why, then, are so many in this one village smitten?”
“This village has earned the displeasure of the Will.”
“How neatly you serve up the mysticism, Tomis,” she said bitterly. “I misjudged you. I thought you were a sensible man. This fatalism of yours is ugly.”